Kim Alexander, who has recovered from cancer, enjoys spending time with her horses, Chance and Sis, at her farm in Gallatin. / Jae S. Lee / The Tennessean

Written by

Carly Bergthold

The Tennessean

CANCER FACTS

36,570 people in Tennessee are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in 2014. 14,280 cancer deaths are projected to occur. Breast cancer is expected to account for 29 percent of all new cancer cases among U.S. women in 2014. Source: American Cancer Society

How Kadcyla works

Antibody effects: Kadcyla attaches to the receptors of HER2-positive tumor cells, a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer. It tells the cells to stop growing and signals the immune system to destroy them. Chemotherapy effects: The drug then releases a chemotherapy agent inside the tumor cell, causing the cell to die. Because the chemotherapy is specifically released inside the tumor cell, patients are spared common side effects of chemotherapy. Source: Genentech

Sarah Cannon Research Institute

• Began in 1993• Named for the woman better known as her character, Minnie Pearl, a Grand Ole Opry legend. Cannon was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985 and underwent a double mastectomy. Her death in 1996 was not cancer-related. • Founded its United Kingdom facility in 2009 • Has conducted more than 110 phase one clinical trials • Is affiliated with more than 700 doctors Source: Sarah Cannon Research Institute

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Kim Alexander took in an old, emaciated racehorse at the same time that she was preparing to die.

The Gallatin resident had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Her initial diagnosis was grim, and four years of treatment had been ineffective. She had just started a last-hope clinical trial at Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville.

That clinical trial marked a turning point in her fight. When a veterinarian came to look at the horse, Alexander started describing her plans for nursing the horse back to health.

“The vet, who is a friend of mine,” Alexander said, “turned to me and said, ‘Look at you. This is the first time in all these years I’ve heard you talk about the future. You’re talking about living rather than dying.’ When he said that, I thought, ‘My gosh, he’s right.’ And this horse and I, we’re still together. I call him Chance.”

Alexander started on the clinical trial three days before Christmas in 2010. A year later, a scan showed her cancer was gone.

The drug that saved her is now known as Kadcyla, a cancer treatment that received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval after clinical trials at Sarah Cannon, the cancer service line of the Nashville-based HCA hospital giant.

Kadcyla is a novel combination of targeted antibodies and chemotherapy that is released only inside tumor cells, said Dr. Denise Yardley, the senior researcher at Sarah Cannon who oversaw Alexander’s treatment. The clinical trial found that Kadcyla helped people live nearly six months longer and experience fewer side effects than those treated with typical chemotherapy.

About 75 of the 991 patients in the trial participated through the Sarah Cannon institute.

Drugs such as Kadcyla are the new wave of cancer research, Yardley said, because they are highly targeted and can save patients from agonizing side effects.

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer deaths have been steadily declining in the past two decades. Yardley said the development of new cancer drugs is one of the reasons.

“I see in the future less of the one-size-fits-all treatment,” Yardley said.

Although Alexander is thankful to be a part of that wave, she knows that the treatment isn’t the only reason she’s alive today.

“It’s the drugs, yes, and clinical trials are amazing,” Alexander said. “But it’s also the incredible difference in care.”